Texans' defense rolled in 38-20 preseason loss to Saints

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NEW ORLEANS — The Texans used three practices last week and Saturday night’s preseason game at the Superdome as a measuring stick ...

NEW ORLEANS — The Texans used three practices last week and Saturday night’s preseason game at the Superdome as a measuring stick to see how they compare to the defending Super Bowl champion New Orleans Saints.
The Texans better find another stick.
For the second consecutive season, the Saints embarrassed the Texans in their annual preseason series. New Orleans won 38-20 this year after a 38-14 throttling last season, so the Texans improved by six points.
“I’m disappointed, very disappointed,” coach Gary Kubiak said.
The only good thing about Saturday’s game is that it wasn’t televised nationally like next week’s game against the Dallas Cowboys will be.
“We got our butts kicked,” middle linebacker DeMeco Ryans said. “We thought we were ready to play, but we didn’t play like it. The only good thing is that it happened in preseason, and we have time to fix it.”
The offense was inept most of the game, rushing for only 48 yards and scoring only one touchdown in the first three quarters, on Arian Foster’s 10-yard run. The Texans coverted just one third down.
The defense was so horrendous it made Chase Daniel look like Drew Brees. Actually, the Texans made Daniel look better than Brees, who was 5-of-10 for 36 yards and no touchdown passes.
Daniel finished 15-of-21 for 182 yards and three touchdowns.
“We have to man up and see what was done wrong and correct it,” strong safety Bernard Pollard said.
Oh, and the Saints also rushed for 198 yards, with five players getting 20 or more.
“To be honest, this is the worst I’ve felt since I’ve been in Houston,” outside linebacker Brian Cushing said. “Frustration is an understatement. This should be a wake-up call.”
Hit the snooze button
If the Texans need a wake-up call for the Cowboys, they must be in suspended hibernation.
The Saints jumped all over the Texans on the first series, using Reggie Bush to shove the ball down their throats between the tackles. He had 42 yards on five carries in the first quarter for an average of 8.4 yards a carry.
Bush must have felt like he was back at USC feasting on Pac-10 weaklings. His 9-yard run gave the Saints a 7-0 lead after their first series.
Rookie Trindon Holliday, a Louisiana native who played at LSU, fumbled a punt at the Texans’ 15, setting up New Orleans for its second touchdown, a 1-yard run by Brees that made it 14-0.
The Texans made it interesting a couple of times. The first came on the first play of the second quarter when Arian Foster finished a seven-play, 80-yard drive with a 10-yard touchdown run up the middle to make it 14-7. It was the first time the red-zone running game had looked good in two preseason games.
On their next series, the Texans had the ball at the 49 and a chance to tie the game, but Foster lost a fumble, and the Saints capitalized. Daniel threw a 31-yard touchdown pass on a screen to running back Pierre Thomas.
The only other thing the Texans did of note in the first half came courtesy of Neil Rackers. He connected on a 52-yard field goal to pull the Texans within 21-10, but the defense couldn’t get one more stop before halftime.
This time, Daniel took the Saints 83 yards in 11 plays. His 1-yard touchdown pass to fullback Zak Keasey gave New Orleans a 28-10 halftime lead.
The Saints achieved their 18-point advantage against the Texans’ starting defense.
The situation didn’t improve after halftime when the second teams took over.
Wasted opportunities
The offense wasted a 63-yard kickoff return by Steve Slaton to start the second half. Linebacker Danny Clark’s interception at the New Orleans 33 didn’t produce a touchdown, just Kris Brown’s 43-yard field goal that made it 28-13.
The Saints responded with another long drive punctuated by another Daniel touchdown pass — an 18-yarder to Adrian Arrington that gave New Orleans a 35-13 lead going into the fourth quarter.
The Texans scored their second and last touchdown when Dan Orlovsky connected with rookie tight end Garrett Graham from 10 yards out to make it 35-20.
The Saints added a field goal to rub in the salt a little deeper, but the Texans probably deserved to feel a lot of pain after this debacle.john.mcclain@chron.com